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There’s nothing special or unique about this flash, and for the price point there probably shouldn’t be. The flash coverage range of the tt685s is also variable between 20mm to 200mm while also having a guide number of 60, ISO 100 making it ideal for most photography niches. If you are involved in run and gun style flash photography then this makes the Godox tt685s a solid fit as it takes little to no set up to capture a decent photograph requiring minimal effort on your part. The tt685s also fully support high-speed sync up to 1/8000 seconds, first and second curtain sync, flash exposure compensation with manual stops in one-third increment as well as a few other less used features that we doubt most photographers will need. So here's where we use the flash in the real world. In my case to photograph weddings in Nottingham. So far,I've used it at three weddings so I think I've got to know this flash quite well. In recent years Godox have started making a name for themselves as a provider of top quality and dependable photography lighting that users don't have to break the bank to own. In terms of speedlights, the Godox V1 is their top-priced model on-camera flash featuring a round head that provides soft natural lighting effects. In addition to this, Godox are on their third iteration of the exceptionally popular VING series with the V860III - effectively a Godox V1 but fitted with a fresnel head. At first glance the new TT685II could easily be mistaken for the V860III, however there are a number of differences that we’ll cover in this blog that will help you decide which of these is better suited to you. Out with the old, and in with the TT685II
For some of the more advanced functionality of the flash, you’ll definitely need to read the manual. I’ve played around with it by randomly pressing some of the other buttons, and I got lost a couple of times. Quality GN60 (m ISO 100@200mm) and 22 steps of power output (1/1-1/128). Approx. 0.1-2.6s recycle time, 230 full power flashes (using 2500mA Ni-MH batteries). Support TTL/M/Multi/S1/S2. Auto/Manual zoom head from 20 to 200mm. Support USB firmware upgrade. Read my update in part 2 of this review.Since switching to Sony, the v860ii hotshoe has caused me a lot of problems.* FEATURES However, putting it into context, it's not often I shoot like that but it's a nice to have though for those rare occasions I am gunning it. It's not a big disadvantage though. Especially not compared to other third party speedlights who allfire at a similar rate to the Godox v860mk2. VALUE FOR MONEY AND CONCLUSION BasicallyI've got a very eclectic range of equipment none of which talk to each other. What a pain! I've made it work for me but it's far from ideal.I briefly flirted with the idea of getting the Ving 860's and standardising on the FT16 triggers but what stopped me was having to use the little clip on FT-16S receivers. I was bound to lose them and in effect they were external receivers albeit small ones. Plus the FT16's use the 433Mhz frequency and many people have complained as a result the range was poor.
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HVL-F43M and HVL-F32M via wireless; as a slave unit, it can be controlled by wireless signals of Sony camera flashes e.g. HVL-F60M, HVL-F43M and HVL-F32M. TT685F/TT685O as a slave unit, can be compatible with X1 series flash trigger.
The rotary dial and buttons on the tt685s are solid and very responsive to touch ensuring that they register your touch. Although rare at the intermediate flash price point, some of the cheaper entry-level camera flashes on the market can be a pain to actually register a button press and end up wasting time. TT685C as master flash to trigger Canon speedlites e.g. 600EX-RT, 580EX II in TTL or Manual mode; as slave flash to receive signals of Canon speedlites e.g. 600EX-RT, 580EX II, etc and wireless commanders of popup flash on Canon 7D, 60D, or 600D, etc. TT685N as master flash to control Nikon speedlights e.g. SB-900, SB-910; as slave flash under control of Nikon speedlights e.g. SB900, SB910 etc and wireless commanders of pop-up flashes on Nikon D7100/D7000/D800, etc. TT685S as a master unit to control Sony camera flashes e.g. HVL-F60M, In this shot, I’m about 50 meters away from my son with my Fujifilm X-T3 and the XF50-140mm f2.8 R LM OIS WR lens (zoomed all the way in). The flash fired with no problems! Usability The biggest advantage though is that the battery easily lasts a wedding. In fact it's still showing full bars on the display. OK so it's summer and I haven't punished the flash a lot since I do prioritise natural light when I can. But this is great! I no longer have to charge up before each wedding.
Performance And Functionality
Just like in previous tests I have used my Sekonic lightmeter to measure the power of the Ving 860 flash and compared it to my TT685 & Nikon SB910 flashes. I'm not very surprised to find that the v860ii produces the same amount of power as the Godox TT685. The build quality of the Godox TT685 is very good. It looks and feels a lot like my old Nikon speedlights, especially the slightly larger SB-900. With batteries in, it weighs around 500g, a little on the heavy side on a mirrorless camera, but not too bad. It can be used as an on-camera flash, as an on-camera master to trigger other off-camera flashes, and as a slave flash off-camera.
One particular thing that we do like on the tt685s is that the on/off switch is an actual physical switch rather than a button. A number of modern flash units have switched over to the button press system where you have to hold them for three or five seconds before the flash will turn off. In our opinion this is annoying and people often think their flash unit is off when it is actually still on due to not holding the buttons long enough. We will always take an actual on/off switch over a button-based system on our flashes but this does come down to personal preference. The metering is exactly the same, I've found the Godox flashes tend to overexpose by 0.5-1 stop so I usually dial in -1 FEC to make sure I don't accidentally blow the highlights. I have to admit that the SB-910 is far more consistent here. It's a minor annoyance but not the end of the world for a flash that's so much cheaper. Cheaper - AA batteries are cheaper in the short term, whether these are rechargeable batteries or single use ones. You don’t need to fork out for a spare Li-Ion battery As we touched on above, one of the main reasons that the Godox tt685s has managed to become so popular amongst the Sony camera owning community is the excellent performance and functionality that the flash unit provides for such a low price tag. This makes it an ideal flash unit for both the advanced and entry-level photographers while offering the functionality that photographers of all levels will be able to put to good use to improve the low light image quality that they can capture.One noticeable feature that's missing is the fact you cannot remotely change the zoom on slave flashes's. If Yongnuo can do it on the basic 560's, why can't Godox?? That would have been the icing on the cake. C'mon Godox close but no cigar here. It's not a dealbreaker but it would have been good to see. TTL ACCURACY With that in mind it’s hard to argue that this flash isn’t good value given the feature set and the built in triggers, both slave and master mode.
The Shanny ever so slightly over exposes the subjects compared to the other two. Whereas the Godox's flash exposure is identical to the SB910. In short the Godox TTL meteringdoes it's job. FLASH POWER OUTPUT As a result,I haven't made up my mind yet how I feel about the build quality. Or maybe what I should say isthe build quality is nice but maybe quality control needs improvement? FEATURES
Build Quality And Design
The result has meant that I've been turning up to weddings with 4x YN560's, 3x TTL flashes (Nikon SB-910, Shanny SN600SN & Pixel X800N). Since I also use a Godox AD-360 flash for when I need more power I've also had in my bag the Ft-16trigger. With high-speed sync, and a built-in 2.4GHz radio system, the Godox TT685 Thinklite TTL Flash will make it easy to create both simple and elaborate lighting setups. When mounted on camera, it is an effective lighting tool with a powerful guide number of 197′ at ISO 100 and 200mm, a zoom range of 20-200mm, and the ability to tilt from -7 to 90° and rotate 360°. As a TTL-capable unit, the TT685N can also operate as a full wireless master or slave unit with TTL functionality. The TT685 Speedlite has an 8-stop power range (1/1 to 1/128 power), with flash durations between 1/300 second to 1/20,000 second for sharper images whilst maintaining colour accuracy throughout its power range which opens up a whole world of possibilities. User Friendly Now you know how I got here, it's time to actually start talking about the Godox TT685 itself. BUILD QUALITY Runs on a 2.4Ghz radio connection – very impressive given more expensive flashes in the market run on optical line-of-sight only.
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